Focus on… Mexico Where it all began

Acapulco, home of the GNP Mexico P1, is the city where it all began. It was there in 1969 that the Mexican tycoon Enrique Corcuera, in order to try and exploit an outdoor space in his home and not having enough surface area to build a tennis court, decided to set up a structure enclosed by walls and metal netting, unknowingly creating the first padel court in history. But Mexico is an important country for padel not only because it was the first in which padel was practised, but because in the last years it’is one of the nations on the American continent with the highest growth rate.

In fact, Jorge Adalberto Mañé Rendón, president of FEMEPA – the Federación Mexicana de Pádel – recently said: “Just to give you an idea of the growth of the sport, in 2018 there were five states officially playing padel. Today the sport is played in 29 of Mexico’s 31 states”. According to the FIP Research & Data Analysis Department, in Mexico there are more than 320 clubs (of which 130 are affiliated with FEMEPA), 1,500 courts, more than 300,000 amateur players and 3 million fans who follow the sport on social media. There are more than 7,300 players affiliated with the Federation, 35% of whom are female.

In 2023, as many as 134 players participated in FIP international tournaments and were ranked in the world rankings, and 7 young players entered the FIP Promises ranking. And also last year, no less than five CUPRA FIP Tour tournaments were held in different categories (one FIP Rise in both the men’s and women’s categories, one Gold, one Star and one Platinum all in the men’s category). As many as 18 tournaments have been organised by Mexico since 2020 between CUPRA FIP Tour and Premier Padel, showing the country’s international importance in the sport. Premier Padel returns to Mexico a year and a half after the Monterrey tournament (2022) won by Arturo Coello and Fernando Belasteguin in the final over Agustin Tapia and Sanyo Gutierrez. As many as 16 Mexican athletes, including 13 women, have won a CUPRA FIP Tour tournament in their careers: the most successful is Mexican No. 1 Ana Maria Cabrejas (currently No. 147 in the unified World Ranking since 2024) with five titles, including a FIP Platinum in 2022, followed by Ana Paula De La Pena with three titles (two won in pairs by the two Ana). Cabrejas, along with compatriot Camila Ramme Coellar, received a wild card to enter the GNP Mexico P1 main draw.